Hi GST-Community,
one year ago I wrote my first status email (see copy of old text below this post).
Now it´s time to give an update.
In the last 12 month I had 2 injuries
a) broken index finger: comminuted fracture
b) massive pain in the right foot: diagnosed as heel spur (but I still can´t believe it)
In both cases it took roundabout half a year to heal up. It was a difficult time for me. At the end of the day I stopped any running and just gave my body the time to restore by itself.
Regarding my broken finger a physio helped me in +40 sessions. And in this case my GST experience supported me tremendously. In the beginning – after the cast was removed – there was NO movement in the finger at all. In every session with the physio we made only very, very small steps but from my GST training I did know: it´s just important to exercise on a regular and dedicated base; progress will come.
Today I have 70% mobility with my finger. This allows me to train the GST elements again.
GST: I am back on track. Can use my finger(s) to grab a bar and do pull-ups again. Would say another 3 months and I am on the same level – but mentally stronger – as before I broke my finger.
Running: In October – after a short preparation time of 8 weeks – I could finish a Marathon in 3:28:02. For the non-runner: the Boston qualification time in my age group is 3:40:00.
Lessons learned:
I know you all have read this many times before but most important to gain solid progress is to avoid any injury. The setback of a training pause is immense and it costs quite a lot of energy to restart.
This means for me: Now I do listen to my body. If I do e.g. today an interval training where I have to run 8 times 1.000m with a certain pace and I don´t feel well after the 7th repetition I skip the last interval and run home with a cool down phase. On the other hand if I feel strong during my F4 training I do another GST exercise from the next F3 session.
Hope that I can share more (exciting) news next year. Enjoy the last days in 2017 and I wish you all a strong 2018 wo any injury.
Best regards
-Dieter
Posted December 6th, 2016
Hi,
would like to share some of my experiences I made in the past 26 months being a member of this great community.
I am 56, 186cm and 80KG; my main sport activity is/was running. Personal bests (from last year)
Marathon: 3:22:44
10k: 41:46 (my dream is to run below 40 minutes)
Don’t know exactly when but there was a day when I realized that endurance is not enough to stay fit & healthy in a long run. Mobility and strength is as least as important. With this idea I did some search in the Internet and found this community.
When I started with F1 my goal was to move forward as fast as possible and manage mastery soon. As you can image this approach didn´t work well. After a few months I was exhausted and reduced the weekly workload. And after some more months I even stopped doing any GST training.
In January 2016 (during a Ski trip) I took the decision to restart with a different approach. Today I am half way in F1 for most exercises and in F2 for some other. I am very happy about my progress. Here some of my lessons I learned and what I changed in my life:
GST is a kind of lifestyle. You have to integrate in into your daily life. I am quite sure that I will do GST in the couple of years.
My schedule is:
M: F4
T: F3 + H1
W: F4
T: F3 + H1
F: F4
Sa: F3 + H1
So: MS and FS while my wife is watching TV (for the German readers: during Tatort)
TS (still very challenging for me): I do when I have some energy left during the week.
When I am in vacations I do less; when I am on a business trip I use the day(s) as deload day(s).
I am not member of a Gym. I train at home. This saves a lot of time because you can start immediately whenever you are ready.
I use paper and pen to track my training. In each training session I want to be better than in the last one. Many times I do micro steps like 5*30reps, 5*31reps, 5*32reps to reach e.g. 5*60reps. This takes more time but this way works great for me.
Exercise I don´t like (e.g. like Vertical Pike Walk) I do more than in the schedule. Doing so it changes the “relationship”; today Vertical Pike Walk is one of my favourite exercises.
GST is the cheapest hobby/sport you can do. You just need gym trousers. Ok you have to pay for the shower but that´s it. So doing GST saves you quite a lot of money in comparison to other activities. Take this money and invest it in the BEST equipment you can buy/affort. Can´t imagine a life without stall bars anymore.
Follow coach Sommer´s tips but more important: be your own coach; listen to your body and change things if necessary.
Be active in your everyday life: On a map of my city I have drawn a 5miles circle around my house. Whenever I have to reach a destination within this circle I use my bike and not the car.
As a WarmUp I do some of those exercises I mastered in the past and every second day in addition JCs. I increase the weight by 1KG every month.
Before I sleep I try to visualize next days training. This is a good preparation for and as a side effect it helps me to fall asleep.
I read most forum articles and watch every “form check video” and all the valuable comments from the forum coaches.
I do videos from myself and compare them with the mastery videos.
MS: I use the “120s Isometric Middle Split” exercise as an indicator of my progress. I started with 125cm (3 months ago) and now I am at 160cm. (Distance between left and right foot).
FS: I use the “90s Vertical Lunge Bent” as an indicator of my progress. I started with 72cm (3 months ago) and now I am at 138cm. (Distance between wall and feet in front)